Retaining-valve anchor



Cet. 6, 1925. 1,556,431

G. T. EBERMAN RETAINING VALVE ANCHOR Filed Dec. 50 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 6, 1925:..v 4-

UNlTE-D STATES PATENT GFFICE.y

GEORGE T. EBERMAN, OF MEAISVLLE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 E. FAYSON SMITH, 0F SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.

BETAINING VALVE ANCHOR.

Application led December 30, 1924. Serial No. 758,862.

To f1.7] inimmt may coner'n.

lle it known that I. GEORGE T. hispanas. a citizen ot the United States. residing at Meadville. in the county of Crawford and State o't Pennsylvania. have invented ce1'- ytain new and useful Improvements in Retaining/Talre Anchors. ot which the followinnr is a specification.

The retainingl valve is a coordinate part of the air brake mechanism. lt is just as important and nccessarv for the satisfactory operation of the air brallte. as any part of the air brake mechanism. ltisessentialthattne retaining valve properly function for the air brake to Work to best advantage.

The function of the retaining valve is to retain a pressure oi air in the air bralre cylinder, While the air in the train line is being replenished from the locomotive. lt is operated by trainnien for the purpose of controlliinlF movement of train on lgrades of various degrees in hilly or mountainous localities.

The United States safety uppliancr` laws require that. brakes on railroad cars be at all times in good working order. tor the safety of trains and thc lires ot lrainmrn. 1Where brakes arenot effective. or. in Jood Working order such' a condition is a penalty defect. resulting' in tines'agraiust the carrier by the Govern-ment.

Both larir screws and bolts are used as tnsteninnr ,members The retaining valve is located on the outside end of the car ind near the top of th(` car. On some typo of frei ht ca rs of Wooden end construction.y the retaining valve is 'fastened to the rar 'ov the use of lag screws: on other cars ot' saine type of construction. bolts ar(` used. (ln cars of steel end construction. or steel and plato construction. bolts are used as Fa toning members. Such bolts extend *from the inside of the car. The nuts on the ends of the bolts. being on the outside ist the Cut'. y

The method of fastening?y retaining' valves with la;y sti-erts to the cars is ycry unsatist'urtori. lood shrinks: the car vibrates and rocks under train und switching service conditions throwing; a lstrain on these fast- "hose causes result in the lag srrews e fun e' loosened and it is an impossihilitj.v to again tighten the lagr screws in the sume hole.

Bolts holding retaining valves attached to cars with a steel end construction, the holes through which such bolts pass must necessarily be slightly larger than the diameter of the bolts. Due to constant vibration of the car in train and switching service these bolt fastenings Work loose. causing in time the holes to Wear larger. lVhere these bolt fastenings for retaining valves are applied to open type steel cars, such as coal cars, the bolt holes often become enlarged to such an extent that it is impossible to bolt the valve securelyr to the car. until a steel plate is riveted thereon, having new openings for these bolt fastenings.

lVhere bolts work loose in steel end coal or closed type cars it is impossible to tighten the nuts. due to the bolt turning' Without holding a Wrench on the head of the bolt on the inside of the car, which entails moving' of load in case the car is loaded, entailingir considerable expense. as well as delay of movement of car.

llVhere lag screws become loose in wooden type cars, and Where bolt tastenings become loose in wooden type and in steel type cars. thislooseness ot fastening permits the re tainingY valve and connection to move back and forth with a pendulum like movement, which movement in time causes the pipe connection to break Where it is screwed into the valve or at, the union resultiugin tailu're Retainingr valves must be located on cars` where they Ican be plainly seen by traininen. lt is the duty of trainmen to inspect retainingr valif'es to see Whethcrthcy arein an open or closed position. The present location does not always provide an easy inspection from the ground and it a retaining valve has been tampered lwith it cannot be readily seen. With this anchor retaining valves can be located at any point or place on the car. It, due to failure of trainrnen to see retainer. a car is put in train service with the retainer in a closed position, then when the train has been put in motion and the brakes have been applied for purpose of control on grade, or, for purpose of lesseningr speed. and it is desired to again increase speed of train.' the brakes on the ear having the closed retaining valve will not release, resulting in damage to brake shoes and wheels, as Well es draft gears.

When a retaining valve is applied to this anchor it is much more easy for the trainmen to operate the handle of the valve, it stands away-from the car. In the present method of application the handle lays up against the end of the car flush. if itis diliicult for the trainman to insert his hand back of the handle, or, if the handle works hard. as is frequently the case, the trainman will not exert himself to operate the handle and will pass it by; this is notI a satisfactory condition, as it makes for irregularity in the train control movement. The easier and more conveniently retaining valve handles can be operated, the quicker the' train is brought under control and the less liable is the trainmen to injury for the reason that the trainman is holding to the, brake wheel with one hand and with the other is turning up the retaining valve handle, during which time he is riding on the brake step, balance ing himself during the operation.

The rules of the American Railway Association provide 4for a specific charge to he made by railroads, where the air brake cylinder, the triple valve, the centrifugal dirt Collector and the retaining valveis cleaned on a foreign ear, or7 that is to say. on a car owned by another railroad. But, this charge provides that each of these four specifically mentioned parts of the air brake must he cleaned or the charge cannot be levied and collected. In other words, if three of these parts are cleaned and one ofthe parts is not cleaned, then n charge whatever can be made for the work. It will, readily be seen how very expensive it will be if seals must be broken, cars entered and loads removed to take the retaining valve from the car for the purpose of cleaning. 1Where the valve is attached to the anchor, it can be removed and cleaned and replaced in a very few minutes.

In the drawings: l.

Figure l is an end elevation of a railroad car with my invention installed thereon, only one half of the car being shown.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of my improved anchor with a retaining valve se cured thereto. Y v

Figure is a side elevation of Figure 2. Figure 4 is a front elevation of my improved anchor. Figure 5 is a side elevation of Figure 4. The'object of my invention is to provide an anchor for retaining valve so mounted on the car and of such construction that` the retaining valve may be detached from the anchor without necessitatin the removal of the lead from the car t ereby re ducing the expense of repairs to aminimum and eliminating the possibility of damage, and loss of the commodityl in the car.

The reference numeraLl designates a car which may be of any type used by railroads,

The pipe 2 leading fromthe air brake system of the car extends to a point near the top of the car on the upper end of which is secured the retaining valve 3 in convenient reach of the operation from the top of the car or while standing on the usual car ladder 4. i I

My improved anchor comprises a base 5, a spacing web G, and a plate 7 extending7 preferably, in yan opposite direction from the web 6 as compared with the base 5, the base and plate being in parallel planes, but spaced from each other by the web 6, so that when the base 5 is secured to the end late, or side plate, or other plate of a rai road car, the plate 7 is spaced from the car as clearly shown in the drawings. This plate' is preferably bolted and'riveted to wooden cars and riveted to steel cars.

The plate7 is provided with bolt openings 8, preferably elongated, from which slots 9 extend to the side faces of the plate as best seen in Figure 4. 10 are bolt or rivet holes in the base.

My improved anchor, as above stated; is securely bolted and riveted to the car by rivets and bolts l5 passingT through the openings 10. The dimension from the end of the car ot' the web 6 to the inside of the bracket may be made to suit the conditions,v

or to coincide with the Wishes of the car builder, or railroad. Thebolts 11 which hold the retaining valve '3 to my improved anchor are put into the plate 7 from the side througl'i the slots 9 and then moved to the elongated bolt openings 8.

In hanging this valve the operator will i find it a great convenience to be able to loosely assemble one of the bolts 11 on thev valve andl with one hand push the valve toward its position sliding the bolt 11 into the slot 9 toward the slot 8 Awhereby the valve will be supported` thus leaving the operator free to use both hands in properly adjusting the valve to its final position after which bolts' l1 are tightened and the valve firmly locked to the anchor.

Itis often they case that service conditions result in the retainer pipe breakingY loose at the vthreads where it, enters the 'retaining valve, this being its weakest point. It is then necessary to replace the retainer pipe of the full length from the union to the valve, which is about 20 feet long on closed .type of cars and about l5 feet long von open type cars. The adjustment provided by the elongated holes of the anchor will permit of the retaining valve being dropped yor lowered down, to` meet this retainer pipe.

The retainer pipe can then be rethreadedl retainer pipe, already on the car, than to replace with a new pipe Figures l, 2 and 8 show the application of the retaining valve to the anchor. In using my improved anchor the rast iron retaining valve 3 is not suhjes-tefl to any of the strains, which heretofore has i# 25ml the ears of the valve to he broken o tf. ly anchor holds the valve rigiil and perteory perpendiculaithus lending to efiicient brake operation9 and eliminates the trouble caused by a loose re taining valve which condition leaves the pipe and valve tree to move similar to an inverted pendulum, which eventually lor inks the pipe :1nd the valve becomes inoperative, lleerehy causing a violation of the Federal satetv appliance regulations.

it will he noted from Figure 3 that there is ample rooni between the ear and the plate ot' the anchor within which to manipulate the bolts The anchor as a whole may be termed a Z shaped plate because there is on the market a commercially rolled plate of the saine cross section which is known as Z shaped metal.

It is obvious that changes may be made in my, invention without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. The combination with a car and a retaining' ,valve of a Z shaped bracket anchoring the valve to the oar.

A retaining valve anchor comprising a base, n wel), at right angles to the base, anni a plate at right angles to the web, elon` gated holt openings in the plate, and slots extending troni said openings to the sides of the plate.

il. A retaining; valve anchor comprising a hase. i weh extQn-ling outwardly at right magies to the hase, an :ap'vvzir-'f'iI extending plate at the outer end of the wel), vertically elongated holt openings in the plate, and slots extending from said openings to the sides ot the plate.

l. The combination with the Wall of a ear, of n retaining valve Z shape bracket,

one arm of which is secured to said Wall, the other arm being spaced from Suid Wall, elongated bolt holes formed through Said other arm, a retaining valve secured to said other arm h bolts passing through said elongated ho es, which bolts are unattached to the car wall, said elongated holes permitting the bolts to be adJusted to acconv modate var ing lengths of the ipe connecting said va ve with the air bra e system of the car.

In testimony whereof I alix my signature.

GEORGE T. EBERMAN. 

